Kite



Nov. 12, 1963 J. 1.. KOONCE ETAL KITE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 28,1962 R WWW 0 0E. V zm m w 6 4 Le "M M Ma G ATTOR/VEVJ Nov. 12, 196 'J.L. KOONCE ETAL KITE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 28, 1962 (BA/7 L.Koo/7C6 Geo/ye W. Koo/ice v INVENTOR. BYM"W ATI'OflA/EVJ United StatesPatent 3,110,460 KITE This invention relates to improved kites of thetype designed to resemble a bird.

Heretofore, kites of this type have been made in the conventional mannerfrom wooden struts and paper. Obviously, these did not closely resemblea :bird, primarily because of their lack of depth and thickness of body.For substantially these same reasons, kites of this type oflered noperational improvements over conventional kites, were just as fragile,and flew in generally the same manner as a conventional kite. In otherwords, other than the fact that they had the general outline of a bird,they were no different from conventional kites.

It is one of the principal objects of this invention to provide a kitewhich more closely resembles a bird than prior kites of this type.

Another object of this invention is to provide a kite which not onlymore closely resembles a bird, but which also has improved flightcharacteristics.

It is an additional object and one of the principal features of thisinvention to provide a kite shaped like a bird which has the inherentability to adjust to various wind velocities.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a kite which notonly has the physical characteristics of a bird, but which also moreclosely resembles a bird in flight than prior kites of this type in thatit will fly approximately level to the ground under normal flyingconditions.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a kite shaped like abird which can be flown in either a light or strong wind without havingto be adjusted.

These and other objects are accomplished, in accordance with ourinvention, by a kite comprising an elongated body having integrallyconnected laterally extending wings and a tail section. The kite ismolded in one piece from a suitable material and provided withsufficient thickness to provide depth or a third dimension to the kiteto further enhance its resemblance to a bird. As distinguished from theconventional kite, our kite needs no adjustments for diflerent windvelocities but is free to assume diiferent altitudes with respect to theground for different wind velocities and will assume a level positionwith respect to the ground in optimum flying conditions, therebysimulating the flight characteristics as well as the appearance of abird in flight.

Still other objects, advantages and features of this invention will beapparent to one skilled in the art upon a consideration of the writtenspecification, the attached claims and the annexed drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters are used throughoutto designate like parts:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views of the preferred embodiment of theinvention, FIG. 1 being a view from the lower side of the kite and FIG.2 being a view from the upper side of the kite;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken through the wings 2 of the kiteand illustrating the relationship of the wings and tail section as wellas the shape of openings in the wings; and

FIG. 4 is a side view of the kite, partly in section and partly inelevation along line 4-4 of FIG. 3, and illustrating further therelationship of the wings to the tail of the kite as well as thepreferred thickness of the wing in relation to its width.

The kite is molded into the shape illustrated which consists of the body10, wings 11 and 12, and the tail section indicated generally by thenumber 13. Obviously, the molding material used should be as light aspossible since the less weight the kite has, the less wind it will taketo fly it. As for its structural strength, it should be suflicientlystrong to not only withstand the forces imposed on it in flight, butalso to take the normal amount of abuse inherent in kite flying such as,for example, the crash landings which necessarily result whenever anattempt is made to fly the kite with an insuflicient amount of wind orwhen the wind is gusty, etc. One material which has been found to meetthese requirements is expanded polystyrene pellets, which is also easilyhandled and easily molded.

The front end of the body is shaped to resemble a birds head 14. Also,various markings 29 are produced on the kite during the moldingoperation to resemble feathers to help the kite present the illustion ofa bird in flight. These markings can be colored to emphasize them and tomake them visible from the ground to add to the birdlike appearance ofthe kite.

The wings extend outwardly from the body and form an angle with eachother of less than which not only makesthe kite look more like a bird,but also gives it more stability due to the dihedral angle of less than180. The wings are tapered toward the end for esthetic purposes as wellas for the obvious structural reasons. Further, as seen in FIG. 4, thewings are shaped as an air foil in that each has a convex upper surface15 and a straight or concave lower surface 16. As illustrated in thedrawings, the lower surface is just slightly concave,

which simplifies the removal of the kite from the mold.

In accordance with this invention, there are openings 19 and 18 in thewings 11 and 12 which are shaped so that they are largeron the undersideof the wings than they are on the upperside. In this way, the windpassing through the openings will experience an increase in velocity'anda decrease in pressurei.e., a venturi effectthereby producing atremendous improvement in the flight characteristics of the kite.Without such an opening in the wings, the kite is unstable and flies foronly a brief instant in the proper position before it falls to one sideor the other and crashes to the ground or spins around and around in theair on the end of the kite string. With the openings shaped in themanner described, the kite immediately becomes stable and maintains itsproper position in flight.

In conventional kites, the kite string is attached to the bridle of thekite in such a way that its position with respect to thekite is alwaysfixed and this in turn fixes more or less relationship of the kite .tothe ground. In other Words, it limits the change in inclination which ispossible between the kite and the ground. This is satisfactory in theconventional kite since it consists of a flat surface which must be heldat an angle in the prevailing wind Patented Nov. 12, 1963' in order toproduce the lift necessary to overcome the weight of the kite andstring, etc. However, having wings shaped as air foils, the kite of ourinvention will automatically assume a position relative to the wind totake full advantage of the lift produced by the wind flowing over itswings. Since a more or less horizontal position with respect to theground is the most eflicient angle for the air foilsi.e., where theyproduce the greatest lift the kite will inherently seek such a positionif allowed to do so.

In order to accommodate this tendency, the kite string is attached tothe kite so that it will not prevent it from assuming any position itdesires. Thus, the kite string 22 is attached to a solid ring 24 whichin turn is attached to the body of the kite by a short line 23. Theshort line 23 has each end attached to the body to form a loop uponwhich the solid ring can freely slide. This arrangement allows the kiteto adjust its attitude with respect to the ground as desired, with nointerference from the kite string. It has been found that the bestresults are obtained when the ends of the short line 23 are attachedbelow the leading and trailing edges of the wings. For this purposes,and as shown in FIG. 4, each end of the line may be passed through aconically shaped plug 26 which is cemented or otherwise secured within asimilarly shaped opening in the bottom side of the body of the kite.

The tail section 13 at the rear end of the body consists of twolaterally extending stabilizer members and 21. Preferably, thesestabilizer members are curved so that they arch upwardly and outwardlyfrom the body until their ends are more or less horizontal and locatedabove the horizontal plane of the wings, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Thisis done primarily to keep them above the turbulence created by thepassage of the wind over the wings so that the kite will fly smoothlyand not have its tail section buffeted by this turbulence. However,these members do not have to be above all of the wing because as long asthey are simply located above the horizontal plane of the trailing edgeof the wing, they will miss most of the eddy currents produced in theair by the wing.

The kite is further stabilized, particularly when it is flying with itshorizontal plane approximately parallel to the ground, by a taperedridge extending along most of the lower side of the body 10 and actingas a keel and vertical stabilizer as well as a convenient point forattaching the bridle 23.

This ability to fly horizontally then is a result of the combination ofthe shape of the wings and the tail and their relationship, plus thefact that the kite can freely adjust its position relative to the kitestring. However, whether or not the kite flies in a plane horizontal tothe ground will depend on the velocity of the wind. If the kite is beingflown in a light wind, it will not obtain suflicient lift in thehorizontal position and it will therefore assume an angle to the groundwhich will present the relatively flat areas on the underside of thewings and tail to the wind and fly in the conventional manner.

In summary, this invention has produced a kite which is made to closelyresemble a bird not only in appearance but in flight characteristics. Itis made of an integral, one-piece body construction and is so designed,as de scribed above, that it can fly in an approximately horizontalplane with respect to the ground in a manner heretofore not possiblewith conventional kites.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one welladapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth,together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherentto the apparatus.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are ofutility and may be employed without reference to other features andsubcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of theclaims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention withoutdeparting from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matterherein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A kite, comprising a body having laterally extending wings on itsopposite sides and a tail section at one end molded as one piece toresemble a bird, each wing having a symmetrical opening which isconvergently tapered from the lower side to the upper side of the wings,and said tail section having laterally extending stabilizing members.

2. A kite, comprising a body having wings and a tail section molded asone piece of homogeneous plastic material so as to resemble a bird, saidwings having a dihedral angle of less than 180 and being shaped as airfoils with a convex upper surface so that the distance traveled by theair over the top of the wing will be greater than the distance traveledby the air along the bottom of the wing, each wing having an openingtherein with upwardly'converging tapered walls and symmetrical withrespect to the shape of the wings, said tail section comprising twolaterally extending curved members having their outer ends above thetrailing edges of the portions of the wings upwardly of such members.

3. The kite of claim 2, including a flexible line having each endattached at spaced points to the body, and a solid ring to which thekite string can be attached encircling the flexible line and free tomove along it to permit the kite to change positions with respect to theground.

4. A kite, comprising a body having laterally extending wings and a tailsection to resemble a bird, each wing having a symmetrically shapedopening therein which is larger on the underside than on the top side,and said tail section having laterally extending stabilizing memberscurved upwardly to dispose their top sides at an angle which is lessthan 180 and then outwardly to dispose their outer ends approximatelyhorizontal.

5. A kite of the character defined in claim 4, wherein the outer ends ofthe laterally extending stabilizing members are located above thetrailing edges of the portions of the wings forwardly of such members.

6. A kite, comprising a body having laterally extending wings on itsopposite sides and a tail section at one end so as to resemble a bird inflight, each wing having an opening therethrough which is convergentlytapered from the lower side to the upper side of the wing, and said tailsection having laterally extending stabilizing members.

7. A kite, comprising a body having laterally extending wings on itsopposite sides and a tail section at one end so as to resemble a bird inflight, each wing having an opening therethrough which is larger on theunderside than on the top side, and said tail section having laterallyextending stabilizing members with outer ends which are approximatelyhorizontal and are located above the trailing edges of the portions ofthe wings forwardly of such members.

8. A kite, comprising a body having laterally extending wings on itsopposite sides and a tail section at one end so as to resemble a bird inflight, each wing having an opening therein which is larger on theunderside than on the top side, and said tail section having stabilizingmembers which extend upwardly to dispose their top sides at an angle ofless than with respect to one another and then outwardly to disposetheir outer ends above the trailing edges of the portions of the wingsforwardly of such members.

9. A kite, comprising a body having laterally extending Wings on itsopposite sides and a tail section at one end to resemble a bird inflight, said body, Wings and tail section being molded as one piece,each wing being shaped as an air foil and having an opening therethroughwhich is larger on the underside'than on the top side, and the 5 6 tailsection having laterally extending stabilizing members. 3,022,966 BriggsFeb. 27, 1962 10. A kite of the character defined in claim 9, wherein3,022,967 Romeo Feb. 27, 1962 the outer ends of the stabilizing membersare substan- 3,076,626 Andrews Feb. 5, 1963 tially horizontal andlocated above the trailing edges of the portions of the wings forward ofsaid members. 5 FOREIGN PATENTS 344,275 Great Britain Mar. 5, 1931References Cited in the file of this patent 532,369 at fl' a Jan- 22, 191 UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES 1,261,731 Fronsdall Apr. 2,1918 Pelaspan Expandable Polystyrene, Catalog 171-90 2,434,077 Lang Ian. 6, 1948 10 of The Dow Chemical Company, page 31, February 1958.

1. A KITE, COMPRISING A BODY HAVING LATERALLY EXTENDING WINGS ON ITSOPPOSITE SIDES AND A TAIL SECTION AT ONE END MOLDED AS ONE PIECE TORESEMBLE A BIRD, EACH WING HAVING A SYMMETRICAL OPENING WHICH ISCONVERGENTLY TAPERED FROM THE LOWER SIDE TO THE UPPER SIDE OF THE WINGS,AND SAID TAIL SECTION HAVING LATERALLY EXTENDING STABILIZING MEMBERS.